The BMW X1 is currently one of the oldest models still in production in the line-up of the Bavarian car maker. It was originally unveiled back in 2015 and, alongside cars like the MINI Countryman it is still in production today, heading towards the end of the line. The replacement BMW has in store will be a much more complicated machine but also meant to be a drastic upgrade compared to the outgoing model. According to our sources, the X1 will get an all electric model and it’s very likely that it will wear the iX1 badge on the tailgate.
That would be a premiere for the X1 range, as a purely electric model wasn’t offered so far. The video below suggests that we’re looking at a prototype of the upcoming model but we have certain reservations as to whether this is actually the electric X1 everyone’s waiting for. The biggest giveaway is that there’s no visible sticker on it, announcing to the world that the car hiding under that heavy camouflage is electric.
The law in Germany states that prototypes of electric models must wear such stickers in visible places for safety reasons. In case there’s an accident, for example, and the emergency services have to get you out in a hurry, they need to know if there’s a high-voltage battery inside the car, to make sure everyone walks away safely. Furthermore, the front end of the car seems to sport some very big and very open grilles that would be necessary in order to cool off an internal combustion engine possibly hiding behind them. On an electric car, those grilles would definitely be blocked off, to improve the aerodynamics of the car.
Even so, this prototype shows that the upcoming X1 will have a totally different shape compared to the outgoing model. We can clearly see that the headlights feature a different shape for the Corona Rings and that the taillights also have a different overall shape. The door handles are also sunken into the doors for a better aerodynamic profile, which definitely hints at an electric model coming.
There has been a lot of talk about the future BMW iX1 and it is definitely happening. It will come with all the latest features BMW offers, including the latest driving assistance technology. As a matter of fact, even though the ‘Electric Test Vehicle’ stickers are missing, we can’t ignore the ones that are actually on the car, highlighting the Autonomous Driving features that are being tested on it. Another clue in this regard is the massive radar hidden in between the front grilles, that’s bigger than usual.
The upcoming BMW X1 is slated to go in production in July, next year. It will use the same engines as the ones already available on the new 2 Series Active Tourer and add electric ones to the list on the iX1 versions. At first, according to our sources, the iX1 will be available in two guises: eDrive20 (FWD) and xDrive30 (AWD). The specs and battery sizes will be unveiled at a later date.
